Champions of Bhumant

Into the Fire

I made my way into the spirit realm, through a portal that after much searching I finally found in the ruins of an ancient monastery high in the mountains. Upon arriving, I found that many beings travelled here, although I could not touch them. I followed what seemed to be a most interesting challenge to the gate of its origin, and there I observed the flow of creatures into and out of this gate. I had decided that I was going to enter here in search of worthy foes, when I noticed a group of travelers watching me as well. Staring, really. So, we passed through the portal at the same time, and they greeted me by name. Imagine my surprise, as I had never seen a single one of them before. Nevertheless, they seemed to have met some doppelgänger of mine, or at least a lesser portion of my spirit who fought alongside them and died protecting them, apparently. I was…intrigued, to say the least. So, I felt that this group of warriors and sages, nobles and savage beasts would likely lead me to battle, and I decided to travel with them. A loud whistling tone sounded out, and we were soon beset by a swarm of small, annoying creatures that we dispatched easily enough. We were heading for a nearby tower when out of the molten rock leapt two great monsters. Oni. I am sure of it. _Now, _I thought, _this is getting interesting. I enjoined in battle with the both of them, wounding them, and as I battled, a memory occurred to me. I had studied these kind of oni before! As I made several strategic cuts, suddenly the quiet archer, the one who calls himself Thorn, let fly a missile of pure light, right through the eye of one of the oni. I was amazed as it glowed, and then fractured into a thousand pieces of light. Never had I witnessed such prowess in an archer before. We quickly finished the other oni off, and then we were off to the main event: Their lord, the King Oni. He was perched atop his tower, watching us. The de facto leader of the party, and strangely dressed man on a finely trained horse, insulted the demon until it had enough, and it vaulted from its parapet to the ground directly in front of me, spewing fire from its mouth. My chi protected me from the flames, and I knew that this is where my chi had been leading me all this time. I sized up my opponent, and charged forward, slicing and cutting, feinting and stabbing. I thought that he had me once, but I narrowly managed to twist aside from the raking claws of the terrible foe. I felt the __yofun_, or rage, rising inside me. I focused my chi through my blade, and struck as I never had before, tearing through its head and a blinding series of blows. The Oni had much power, as it healed some of the wounds right then…but not all of them. Also, I noticed that my blade seemed to glow, faintly. Some of the others attacked it as well, and the marksman, Swen, put a shot right into its eye. Immediately, I knew how I would slay the beast. It weakly swiped at me, but I batted its hand aside, then leapt for its head once again, channeling my fury into the point of my sword. I pierced its other eye, and drove my blade through the back of its skull! Now my blade released a burst of light, and I distinctly, if faintly, heard a familiar voice: “You can still regain your honor…” I knew that I must determine the source of this call, and although I have long since put to death the samurai within me, I am yet drawn by this prospect. For what glory is there to be had, when one is honorless?